The San Francisco Chronicle
AUGUST 28, 1994, SUNDAY, SUNDAY EDITION

Carlos The Vain

   Sinead O'Connor, ''Universal Mother,'' on Chrysalis/EMI: For a woman who has
released very few CDs, Sinead O'Connor has been highly visible and controversial
over the last couple of years. Her fourth CD, due on the Jewish Day of
Atonement, will be her first album of originals since 1990's ''I Do Not Want
What I Have Not Got.'' Unlike many superstars whose lives become cloistered and
dull upon attaining fame and whose art suffers because of it, O'Connor's
tempestuous life has provided her with much angst from which to draw.  In
addition to originals with titles such as ''Scorn Not His Simplicity'' and ''Am
I a Human,'' ''Universal Mother'' includes several jazz samples, a speech by
Germaine Greer and a quiet rendition of Nirvana's ''All Apologies.''